The Way It Should Be
by Freedomspirit94
Summary: Cinderpelt was reborn as Cinderheart to travel down the path that she always wanted. Delve into the feelings of both sides of the reincarnation, and explore an interesting connection that supports the LionXCinder relationship. One-shot.


**A/N- This idea just came to me. I was never a fan of CinderheartXLionblaze, until I noticed a special connection…or maybe it's just a far-fetched wish. Either way, this story goes into both Cinders view of Lion and what it might be like to be a reincarnated cat.  
**

* * *

_**Cinderheart's POV**_

Swirls of snow drifted by on a cool gust of wind. High above, the moon was rising slowly as the sky turned from pink with golden streaks to deep purple, and finally to a midnight blue. Stars twinkled into existence. The ground and the high walls of the hollow were slick with white frost.

Snowflakes fluttered down and landed on my fluffy gray fur as I sat peacefully in a sheltered alcove across from the warriors den. My sky blue eyes pierced the darkness with their glow as the snow slowly melted into drizzling rain.

The forest was recovering from a fierce winter storm that had taken place the night before. Thunder had crashed; lightning had shot across the sky in a blinding streak. It had hit an ash that sat upon the rim of the hollow right above the warriors den. Luckily, it fell away from the camp and into the forest. All that was left was a burnt trunk.

Suddenly, a glow of gold slipped out of the den opposite from where I sat. The warrior lifted his head high, silhouetted against the sky.

The frosty breeze, fresh scent of rain, charred ash tree, and magnificent tom suddenly crashed together as I uttered a gasp of surprise. In just a heartbeat, my mind flew backwards, back to before my life had even started. Back to a memory that was not mine.

_A loud, screeching noise. The acrid scent of the thunderpath. The feel of grit beneath my paws. The disgusting taste of twolegs in my mouth.  
_

_Then…pain. Pain was everywhere. Or was it? No…it all centered around my leg. It was blinding pain, white hot pain, twisting pain. It was tearing me apart.  
_

_Through slitted eyes, I suddenly saw my savior appear. A flame-colored tom stood in front of a burned ash, rainwater dripping from his fur. His scent wreathed around me, the sight of him flooded my view. His fur brushed against mine.  
_

"_Cinderpaw." He breathed, so only I could hear. I heard the distress in his voice. He thought I was dead. I couldn't answer him – it was impossible. Was I dead? I hoped not; I couldn't hurt this tom.  
_

_Then another tom appeared – a huge tabby. An evil tom, though I didn't remember the deep-set hatred later. He dipped his head to grab me, but the ginger tom was faster. He took my scruff gently between his jaws and carried me carefully back to camp, as if I was something fragile that could not be lost.  
_

_And I wasn't lost…at least, not completely. I lived to see another day, another many moons. But I wasn't what I wanted to be, or where I wanted to be. I wanted to be a warrior, not a medicine cat.  
_

_And even more than that, I wanted to be besides Fireheart, my fur brushing his forever.  
_

I jerked away from the memory that gripped me. Me, Cinderheart. Not the cat whose memory that was. I wasn't her. Was I?

This had happened many times before. I often had flashbacks that didn't belong to me. I didn't usually remember them later, and told no cat. These visions came at random times – a sudden strong emotion welled up inside me at sights that shouldn't cause any distress. I didn't understand them. When they came, something within my heart, within my soul, within my very essence, stirred. I didn't know what it was…who it was. I was frightened sometimes, but another part of me never was. Another part of me felt joy when this…awakening inside me came. As if Starclan itself rejoiced.

Another shocking memory had come when I'd hurt my leg. I'd felt twice the panic, twice the horror, than normal. Terrifying thoughts raced through my head that wouldn't normally: Would I become a warrior? Would I be doomed to be a cripple forever? And the force deep inside of me had wailed, _"No, no, no! Not again!"  
_  
And then I was calm. I slept, and I dreamed, and when I woke up, I knew everything was going to all right. I don't usually remember my dreams – perhaps the force inside me takes over completely during the night. Either way, I knew that I would live to fulfill my true destiny.

These…feelings didn't always swamp me and take over. This force inside my soul wasn't always there. Much of the time, I forgot all about it. But still, there was always…something there. I seemed to have twice the skills, twice the knowledge, and twice the experience than any other cat. As if I had lived before…but that was impossible.

As funny as it seems, I was never truly afraid of this force. It was right. It was supposed to be this way. I didn't know why, but a part of me always knew. I just couldn't reach this part.

And as Lionblaze appeared with surroundings that were almost familiar, I suddenly became vividly aware of him. I became aware of his proud stance, his twinkling amber eyes, his golden pelt that was so close to ginger, his determination to become the best warrior possible. These traits awoke the thing deep inside of me, and they awoke me as well.

Lionblaze noticed me watching him. A puzzled expression crossed his face, and then cleared. He padded over, his paw steps slow but confident. "Hello, Cinderheart." He meowed, his voice a low but warm. "Would you like to share some fresh-kill with me?"

I nodded, almost in a daze. And as I padded beside him, my pelt almost – almost, but not quite – touching his, I knew everything would be all right. This was they way it was supposed to be. This was the way it should've been all along.

* * *

_  
I watched from Cinderheart's eyes – my eyes. My old mind is driven to the surface by emotional moments that had meant something to me, my past life. This was one of those moments, as I watched as my reincarnated self speak with Lionblaze.  
_

_This was very interesting. Lionblaze was Firestar's grandson, the grandson of my love that was never meant to be. He was the only tom of Firestar's kin that was allowed to have a mate, besides Cloudtail, and he was the one most like how Firestar was in his younger days. He was also around the same age as Cinderheart, and his golden pelt even almost _looked _like Firestar's flame-colored one.  
_

_Was this meant to be? Cinderheart had taken the warrior path that I had always yearned for; could she possibly be getting the mate that I had always mourned after as well? I knew the answer.  
_

_Yes.  
_

_As the reckless emotion faded, I slowly slipped back into Cinderheart's consciousness. I melded back with her, for I was her and she was me. We are one.  
_

_This was why I had been reincarnated – to take the path I had wanted to tread. And now I finally was. My destiny was becoming fulfilled.  
_

* * *

**There it is. I do like how it turned out, though I meant to put more of LionXCinder in it and less of delving into her reincarnation. But it all kind of molds together, so I don't think it was such a waste. Also, just as a reminder, Cinderpelt was in love with Firestar (if you didn't figure that out while reading this). The Erins confirmed this in an interview, and it may have mentioned it in the books; I forget. To fully understand this story, you had to have known that =]**


End file.
